Microwave irradiation was introduced into the aging process of co-precipitation to prepare CuO/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalyst precursor in this paper. Influence of Cu/Zn on catalytic performance was investigated under microwave irradiation, the effects of microwave irradiation on phase composition and catalyst structure were illuminated by use of X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR spectroscopy (FT-IR), derivative thermogravimetry (DTG), H₂ temperature programmed reduction (H₂-TPR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It indicated that the ratio of Cu to Zn had important effect on catalyst, microwave irradiation benefited to the formation of (Cu, Zn)₅(CO₃)₂(OH)₆ in the precursor. The precursor possessed more (Cu, Zn)₅(CO₃)₂(OH)₆ as the ratio of Cu to Zn was 2.0, it exhibited well synergy, well dispersion, low reduce temperature after calcination, which benefited to slurry methanol synthesis, its methanol space-time yield (STY) and deactivation rate of the catalyst were 309.0 g•kg^－1•h^－1and 0.11%/d respectively, which excelled the catalytic performance of catalyst prepared by water heating.

Key words: Cu/Zn, microwave irradiation, methanol synthesis, CuO/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalyst, slurry-bed